By George Gilson
As a special parliamentary investigative committee continues its probe of the surveillance in 2021 by the National Intelligence Service (EYP) of centre-left PASOK leader Nikos Androulakis, it is constantly coming up against the brick wall of former EYP officials who are involved in the case invoking their oath of secrecy, making it highly unlikely that the committee will ever be able to uncover who, why, and on whose orders a service under the direct supervision of the PM’s office was spying on one of his political opponents.
An emasculated Parliament
With the affair having stirred a national uproar over the lack of democratic accountability of EYP to anyone, including the Hellenic Parliament, even New Democracy MPs have lambasted the fact that former officials are barricading themselves behind their oath of secrecy in order to block parliamentary review of their actions.
Former EYP chief Panagiotis Kontoleon, today once again invoked his oath of confidentiality in testifying before the committee, which adjourned until tomorrow.
Though main opposition SYRIZA and a number of ruling New Democracy MPs have said that the PM should lift the oath of secrecy for the former EYP chief, Panagiotis Kontoleon, that is in fact impossible, as it is legally mandated and such a move would be tantamount to breaking the law.
The life-long oath of secrecy is enshrined in the highly detailed law 3649 of 2008, governing the operation of EYP.
Shifting attention to EYP surveillance under SYRIZA
For its part, the government is attempting to shift the focus of attention to EYP activities while main opposition leader Alexis Tsipras was in power, charging that two top SYRIZA cadres – the former head of the Hellenic Republic Asset Development Fund (TAIPED), Stergios Pitsiorlas (who was later promoted to deputy and then alternate development minister) and lawyer Spyros Sagias, who held the top post of cabinet secretary in Tsipras’ first government – were under surveillance during his tenure.
The former head of the Hellenic Republic Asset Development fund, Stergios Pitsiorlas, a long-time top cadre of SYRIZA and its predecessor, Synaspismos, has said that he was placed under surveillance while serving as TAIPED chief.
Roubatis: confidentiality oath does not extend to parliamentary review
In testimony before the committee, then EYP chief Yannis Roubatis said that Pitsiorlas was indeed under surveillance in 2016, which however started far before that, because he had been involved in negotiations of companies with which he had links regarding the purchase of the small Ionian island of Oxia, east of Ithaca, to the Emir of Qatar, as well as of a prime coastline property known as the “shipwreck of Zakynthos” (the wreck of the ship “Panagiotis”, which in 1980 was carrying contraband cigarettes, in an idyllic, isolated seafront area of the island).
Sagias as a lawyer was reportedly directly involved in the purchase of the prime 1,400 hectare property above the coast by the Qataris, but the transfer was later ruled illegal by the Greek courts as the seller, who presented a bogus Venetian document as his title, was not the rightful owner.
It was reportedly in the context of surveillance of individuals involved with the shipwreck of Zakynthos deal that Pitsiorlas was also surveilled.
Roubatis reportedly said that he had briefed Tsipras about this.
Roubatis later said that press reports regarding his testimony were a “recital of disinformation” and that his words were “forged”.
Ex-EYP chief Roubatis: Surveillance of MPs and political divs illegal
In his testimony, Roubatis reportedly expressed the opinion that the EYP confidentiality oath does not apply vis a vis Parliament, and that surveillance of MPs and political divs is illegal.
Regarding the charges of the Greek Communist Party (KKE) that its telephone switchboard was under surveillance, Roubatis categorically denied any EYP involvement, said he had assured the party of that, but enigmatically did not rule out that foreign countries might have been involved in such an operation.
In the real estate transactions, Sagias reportedly had offered legal advice and Pitsiorlas, as he himself has said, offered “friendly” investment advice to the company representing the buyer.
SYRIZA: ‘We did not begin the surveillance’
SYRIZA says that EYP surveillance regarding the Qatari investments began in the 2012-2015 period, and SYRIZA MP Dimitris Tzanakopoulos said that the Samaras government ordered the surveillance and that it continued under SYRIZA because there was no EYP recommendation to cease it.
Moreover, ordering cessation of the surveillance could have been interpreted as a move by the government to favour one of its own.
SYRIZA has demanded that all EYP documents regarding the affair be declassified.
SYRIZA: Mitsotakis should lift secrecy requirement for ex-EYP chief Kontoleon
In the parliamentary investigative committee, SYRIZA, supported by all other opposition party MPs, tabled a request that Mitsotakis absolve the ex-EYP chief of his oath of secrecy, which would be illegal, but that was rejected by MPs of the ruling New Democracy majority.
Androulakis slams Mitsotakis
In a fresh offensive against Mitsotakis, Androulakis said that his surveillance by EYP, which is under the direct jurisdiction of the PM, makes a mockery of the contention that Greece now has an efficient, streamlined government, and he alleged that Mitsotakis ordered his surveillance in order to hold PASOK [which until now was considered ND’s likeliest coalition partner after the next general elections] hostage.
“We knew about Big Brother, but it never crossed our minds that the “big nephew” would be surveilling us at the behest of the “big uncle”, Androulakis said, referring to the Grigoris Dimitriadis, the PM’s former chief of staff, who had direct oversight over EYP in the PM’s office.
ND MPs side with PM Kostas Karamanlis’ rejection of invoking confidentiality
Many ruling party MPs, keenly aware of the affair’s great damage to the party, have either publicly or privately broken with the government line (and the law) that all EYP officials are required to uphold their secrecy oath even in the context of a parliamentary inquiry, but the law provides no room for that.
In light of the forthcoming general election, many view the demands of those New Democracy MPs to personally distance themselves from the major blot on the party wrought by the surveillance of a political opponent.
It should be noted, however, their stance is in in line with the publicly stated view of former New Democracy PM Kostas Karamanlis, who caused shock waves in the party when he declared in a 31 August speech in Crete that confidentiality is secondary when compared to the pressing need for transparency regarding who ordered and approved the request to spy on Androulakis and why.
Veteran ND MP Andreas Koutsoumbas, who sits on the Committee on Institutions and Transparency, said in an interview that he supports “as a citizen” the lifting of the confidentiality requirement in order to fully shed light on the sordid affair.
Kefalogianni: ‘Defending the Constitution comes first’
Former minister and top ND MP Olga Kefalogianni minced no words in calling for a lifting of ex-EYP chiefs’ secrecy oath in Parliament, despite the legal strictures.
“Confidentiality, with very specific security guarantees, should take a back seat, because the primary issue is defending democratic institutions, the Constitution, and the law. All of us who serve institutions must mean it when we say something,” she underlined.
“For me, it is very important that when we say that everything must come to light, we cannot barricade ourselves behind confidentiality. It is dangerous for democracy to invoke confidentiality and believe that no one is not accountable,” she said.
